hutchinson



3 "Sheets- Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

c.d G.' HUTGHINSON.

BBLTWAY.

' Patented ARI. 14, 1896.`

%\c im 3 Sheetssheet 2.

CLM/L03 Mm.

G. G. HUTGHINSON.

(No Model.)

BBLTWAY.

ANo. 558,180.

Patented Apr. i4, 1896.

ANDREW BLRANAM. PHoTa-LITHO WASHINGTON. D C,

(No Model.)

C. G'HUTCHINSON 3 Sheets Sheet 3.

BELTWAY; Y No. 558,180. j PatentedApr. 14, 1898.

t Mm 88% Mmmm N DREW ILGRAHAM. PHOTD'LI'THQWASHM GTON. D

Nrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES G. HUTCHINSON, OFNEW YORK, N. Y.

B ELTWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,180, dated April 14, 1896. Application led May 9, 1893. Renewed September 26, 1895. Serial No. 563,80. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES G. HUTcHiN- SON, a citizen of the United States', residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Beltways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates especially to means and mechanism for conveying or carrying human beings from place to place, and has for its object the provision of a simple, cheap, and effective device whereby people may be carried from place to place at a slight cost and without inconvenience, my device being particularly applicable to crowded city streets, crossing rivers, dac.A

To attain the desired end, my invention consists, essentially, in a series of wires 4or cables stretched over a series of supports and anchored at both ends and supporting a series of pulleys, over which a movable endless belt passes, adapted and arranged to support and carry the person; and my invention also in-` volves certain novel and useful combinations or arrangements of parts and peculiarities of construction and operation, all of which will be hereinafter first fully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a beltway designed to carry my invention into effect. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of said beltway. Fig. 3 isa side elevation of the device on a larger scale than Fig. 2,4 and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View looking from the right of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of my beltway, and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional View of said modilication looking from the right of Fig. 5.

Similar numerals of reference, wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

1 are wires or cables stretched tightly over an incline 2 and then over supports 3, said wires or cables starting from anchorages 4. I prefer to use the series of wires stretched and supported in such a manner as to form a fiat cable when bound together, as particularly illustrated by the sectional views of said cable in Figs. 4 and 6l of the drawings.

5 are wires or cables passing between the supports 3.

6 are vertical standards passing between cables 1 and 5, to cach of which they are secured. 7 and 8 are fixed cables also passing between the supports 3 and the standards 6.

9 are rollers or wheels rotatably mounted upon the cable 1.

10 are grooved pulleys rotatably fixed on studs 11, extending from the standards 6.

12 is a fixed shield passing over each pulley 10.

13 is a series of Wires or a cable similar to cable 1, passing between anchorages 1li, over inclines 15 and the supports 3, standards 6, pulleys 10, and fixed connecting-cables 5, 7, and 8, passing between said standards and the supports 3, as above explained, and the standards bearing pulleys 10 and shields 11;

9 are rollers or wheels rotatably mounted upon the cable 13.

16 is an awning hanging from the cable 13, or, if desired, other protecting or inclosing means may be employed.

17 is an endless iiat belt, made of any preferred material, passing around a drivingdrum 1S, over a guide-wheel 19, and then over the Wheels or rollers 9. l provide a plain flexible iiat belt capable of running over the rollers on either face and without any attached chains which form rails to run over or upon flanged wheels or any attached wheels for running upon fixed rails. 2O is a cable which also passes around the driving-drum 18, over a guide-wheel w21, and then over the pulleys 10 beneath the shields 12.

The operation of my beltway is as follows: The drum 18 being set in motion and the belt given the requisite speed, a person desiring transportation steps upon the belt and grasps the hand-cable 20, which moves with precisely the same speed as the belt 17. He may thus stand at ease, or, if desired, walk along upon the belt until he reaches a point where he desires to get olf, when he steps from the belt upon a platform either at a station or the end of the line. When the hand of the person reaches a pulley 10, it will easily glide over the shield 12, thus preventing contact with the pulley 10. By this means a continuous row of persons may be rapidly carried IOO along at a moderate speed and at a trifiing expense,l and as the belt travels in both directions it may be utilized as well when moving one way as the other.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown the cable l as made in two parts, one of which supports the Wheels 9, Whereon runs the belt 17, and the other portion of cable l fixed at a lower grade. In this construction the person to be carried sits upon the belt 17 instead of standing thereon, but may step onto the lower portion of the cable l at any time he may desire.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A beltway, in which is comprised a series of wires or cables, stretched over a series of supports and anchored at both ends; a series of rotatable pulleys or wheels supported by said cable, an endless belt passing over said pulleys or wheels, and means for driving said belt, the whole combined and arranged to operate, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a device of the characterherein specified, a flat, flexible, endless,non-rail-carrying, movable belt, arranged to receive and support a person, said belt running over a series of rotatable pulleys on either side, in combination with means for driving said belt, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device of the character herein specified, the combination of a flexible, movable belt for supporting the person; pulleys over Which said belt is arranged to run; guards at each side of the belt, and supports for said pulleys and guards, arranged substantially as shown and described.

4. In a device of the character herein specified, for the transportation of persons, a fiexible, continuous, movable belt, having both faces flat and adapted to be supported by pulleys at either face, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a device of the character herein specified, the combination with a movable belt for the support of the person, of a movable handrest, arranged substantially as shown and described.

6. In a device of the character herein specified, a movable hand-rest, passing over a series of rotatable pulleys, in combination with shields fixed over said pulleys, substantially as and for the uses and purpose shown and described.

7. A beltway in which is comprised an endless belt arranged to move in both directions, and to receive and support the person; means for driving said belt, supports for said belt arranged as set forth, and a hand-rest arranged to Inlove in both directions at a speed uniform with the supporting-belt, the whole combined and arranged to operate, substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES G. HUTCIIINSON.

Witnesses:

A. M. PIERCE, ISABEL CHESTER. 

